


What's your directive?

by YUGottaBeSoRood



Series: Plance Disney Adventure (almost) [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Hunk (Voltron), Altean Shay (Voltron), Alternate Universe- Wall-E Fusion, F/F, F/M, Humans are robots??, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:34:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27817603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YUGottaBeSoRood/pseuds/YUGottaBeSoRood
Summary: After Alteans took over the humans and galrans became robotic servants to them thanks to the high technology. Lance is a simple human and pretty much the last standing on the poulated earth, still trying to clean up the mess the Alteans left. He is pretty lonely but he knows better than to question it. His cip was programmed that way. He was however verry happy to learn about the old Altean culture. But one day, his boring little life is disrupted by the landing of a ship, dropping off another human. Will he be able to make a new friend? What will happen when she needs to go back but Lance refuses to let go? What will he find on the Altean ship in space, still orbiting the planet?
Relationships: Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Plance Disney Adventure (almost) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035456
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily inspired by the script of Wall-E.

_"Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers._   
_Close your eyes and see it glisten._   
_We're gonna find adventure in the evening air--"_

Lance was humming along the song as was walking through the skyscrapers of trash. Thousands of neatly stacked cubes of trash, stories high. Rows and rows of stacked cubes, like city avenues. They go on for miles. He was walking cheerfully as he usually did, ready to go and gather the trash, like he did. Like he was programmed to do. He used his shovel to make a perfect cube of trash. He scooped it up with the shovel and put it on the wall he was working on. He dances a bit to the song before turning to the wall and tilting his head. A small mouse catching his attention. 

"Why hello there!" He says with a smile. He looks on what the mouse is sitting on and raises his brows with a smirk. 

"And hellloooo to this!" He puts his hands on the piece of trash and takes it out. A hubcap. The sun reflects off it. It surely was rusty. He looks up at the setting sun. He sighs as he lets the last bit of rays kiss his already tanned skin. His yellow and blue clothes made out of jeans materials being dusty from a day's work. He stretches and then takes out the player from his pocket, stopping the song. He lets his bones pop into place as not everything out of him was made of metal, obviously. Humans were still part well- human! He put the new addition for his collection in his bag and put it over his shoulder. He whistled to the small mouse that jumped on his bag and climbed on his other shoulder, earning a giggle from Lance. 

"You little devil. Come on." Lance chidded as he started strolling towards his home in a jumpy, dancey and happy step. He sure as hell didn't want to be caught outside in a sand storm tonight. It was bad enough they were so frequent now. Lance was alone. He travels alone. Traverses miles of desolate waste. Oblivious to roving storms of toxic weather. Passes haunting structures buried within the trash. Buildings, highways, entire cities... Everything branded with the same company logo. "Buy N Large" "BNL" stores, restaurants, banks...transportation! The corporation ran every aspect of life. There's even a BNL logo on Lance's clothes as well. 

Lance steps on some newspapers with these headlines: "TOO MUCH TRASH!! Earth Covered!!". Lance looks at it and makes a funny face. Something he didn't know already? He starts walking again but this time the mouse protests. He looks down, noticing his shoes, that also had wheels for easy transport and cool twirls, were a bit falling apart. He saw some old humans buried in the trash and one had pretty cool shoes. 

"Its not stealing if he's broken...right?" Lance says to his companion. The mouse shrugs. It was a good enough answer. He took the shoes and started wheel-walking again. Rolls past a series of holographic billboards. The solar-powered ads still activate when he passes them. They all say the message he keeps hearing everyday. Lance couldn't help but mock them while he passed them. 

"Too much garbage in your face? There's plenty of space out in space! BNL starliners leaving each day. We'll clean up the mess while you're away!" He says in a mocking tone. The mouse squeek-laughs. Lance smiles. That's when he passes the biggest add. The one he hated the most. A huge ass lie if you ask him personally. But hey- He's just a human, right?

"The jewel of the BNL fleet: "The Axiom". Spend your five year cruise in style. Waited on 24 hours a day by our fully automated crew, while your Captain and Autopilot chart a course for non-stop entertainment, fine dining. And with our all-access hover chairs, even Grandma can join the fun! There's no need to walk! "The Axiom". Putting the "star" in Executive Starliner. Because, at BNL, space is the final "fun"- tier." Lance said, doing a good old motion, too animated for anyone with a brain, to show how fake the message was. The mouse frowned in distaste and squeeked in protest. 

"Five year cruise, huh? Welp pal, I think the cruise is just a tiny bit overdue." The mouse makes a tiny squeek. Lance was 20 after all...he lost his family thanks to this 'Axiom' shitty program or whatever. Well...he was the last one standing after all. Pretty heroic if you asked him. The holographic billboard powers off. Reveals the Axiom's deserted lunchpad in the distance. The mammoth structure sits across the bay. Now empty and dry. A polluted, dead valley. Lance almost wanted to laugh at the irony. 

Near its edge rests a transport unit. A giant child's Tonka Truck left to weather the elements. A "Buy N Large" logo on its side. Lance stops rolling on his wheels and starts approaching the rear of the truck, putting his small mouse friend down. He pulls on a lever and the back lowers. He steps on the ramp and enters, the mouse following. 

"Home sweet home, huh? Is that how the saying went??" The mouse squeeks and shrugs. Lance scoffs. 

"Whateeeeverrrr..." He lets his bag slump down and looks around. Open racks for storing line both walls. Junk Lance found littered everywhere stored in them. The tired human removes his newfound shoes. He walks to the center aisle and smiles at his biggest treasure. Flicks on an ancient Betmax player, jury-rigged to an iPod. Pushes in a cassette labeled, "Hello Dolly!" The image is very poor quality. Actors sing and dance to Put On Your Sunday Clothes. Lance chuckles and opens his bag. Newfound knickknacks. He also pulled out the hubcap he saw. He looks at the screen and raises a brow at the similarity between it and the hats. Mimics the dancers on the screen, pretending the hubcap is a hat. He looks at the mouse with a smile on his face. The mouse tilts it's head. Lance frowns.

"It's similar enough! Come on!" He says. The mouse squeeks and Lance narrows his eyes as he puts the object away. He continues to unpack: a spork, a Rubik's Cube (unsolved) and a Zippo Lighter. Lance looks at the small treasures with a curious look. The mouse shakes his head in disapproval. 

"Well excuse my poor knowledge of the way people use to live! I wasn't born, remember??" He said to the mouse. The mouse flicked his tiny nose and walked into Lance's rafts. The human rolled his eyes and started putting the objects away. A new song, It Only Takes A Moment, plays on the video. Lance is drawn to it for some reason. Presses his "Record" button on his player. He then walks outside as he is dusting his bag and looks up. Even if they are covered by the clouds thank to the polluted haze, they're still there and shining slightly. He smiles as he looks up at them. Sometimes, he wished he was a human up in space. He was sure that other humans were on those ships that left the earth so long ago. The wind picks up. A warning sounds on his arm and he takes off his gloves, showing one of the many mechanical features implanted in humans: a screen that was beeping as a warning. He looks out into the night. A sandstorm approaches off the bay. He rolled his eyes and pressed a button, closing the doors of the truck. 

"A beautiful night ruined..." He mutters to himself as he walks in with his bag. The mouse pops his head out, slightly flicking it's ears. He was alone in the center of his shelter. He unwraps a BNL Sponge-cake...a fancy Twinkie to be exact....And lays it out for his small mouse friend. He happily dives in the cream. Lance walks towards where the I-Pod is and collapses in a blue hammock, letting his limbs stretch happily, his foot lightly touching the floor with it's tip. He slightly pushes himself, rocking from side to side, letting the song on the I-Pod lull him to sleep...Only to next day wake up with no batteries and almost hit a wall while he was walking to get his shoes. He climbed on the roof after and laid on a sun-chair, letting his screen catch as much sunlight as it could on his hand. Suddenly the screen beeped, the charging complete, and Lance straightened his back, getting down from there. 

"Yo, bud? Do me a favor and stay here, mk?" Lance called out to the mouse inside as he took his bag and shovel and left. The mouse squeek in disapproval but in the end, stayed. The day was...interesting. He first discovered a bra. He first tried it as sunglasses or a sleeping mask...He immediately flushed as he remembered what it was for. But slowly slid it into his bag anyways. He wanted to save objects right...?? Welp, at least that's what he told himself. He also found some car keys. He raised a brow confused as to what the keys were for until he pressed them...and a car chimed in the distance. At least no robbers were there, right? He also discovered a diamond ring in a jewel case. He whistled then slowly hit the diamond. He looked unphased as he realized it was glass. 

"Stupid alteans." He said to himself as he threw the jewel out. Then looked at the case. He raised his brow and smirked. The case went right in his bag. He also finds a rubber ducky...a bobble head doll...an old boot...a trophy...He also finds a fire extinguisher. Lance looks at it in curiosity but accidently activates it, spitting foam in his face. He spurts it out and frowns at it. The extinguisher flew like a bird, hitting the exact car that chimed a while ago. Soon after that...Lance's shovel strikes something solid. Faces a refrigerator much larger than himself. Now what? He looked at his hand and took off his glove again. He pointed his hand towards the big freezer and cut it in half. That's where he saw it. Green...ALIVE! A plant, though he didn't quite understand what it was at the time. It was small, fragile. He feared he would hurt it if he did anything wrong. He scooped it out with his hands, taking dirt as well. He looked at his bag and saw the boot. Perfect! He put the tiny plant in. And so that's how the day went. And now here he was, at the door of his truck, after he sat down his bag, looking at a tiny red dot on the ground. 

"Uhh...Buddy? Is this yours?" Lance asked, unsure of what the tiny red dot was. He knelt down and tried to catch it. It moved. Lance stared with wide eyes. Was it alive...?? He got closer to it again. It moved. He chased it but it stopped. He stopped as well. The tiny dot did a full circle around him. Lance stared in confusion before sticking his tongue out in concentration as he tried to slowly reach for it. The dot started running and so did he after it. What he didn't see is that the dot leads Lance deep into the polluted expanse. He is so fixated on it he doesn't notice. What he also doesn't notice are many laser points ****coming from every direction. All racing into the valley over the contour of the terrain. Triangulating towards a center. Lance's dot suddenly stops.

"Aha! Gotcha now!" Slowly he reaches for it. Can't grab it. Just light. 

"What the...??" Lance looks confused as his hand goes right through. All the dots converge in front of him. Lance blinks in confusion. Suddenly, the ground starts shaking. He doesn't see above him. The sun growing brighter behind the cloud cover. A noise. A building? Rocket engines. He looks up to see three suns descending towards him. Lance runs for it. An enormous column of fire blocks his path. A second column of fire. A third. Trapped. Damn it he was trapped. He couldn't run! He starts digging in the ground beneath him. Working fast. Noise deafening. Heat rising. Digs in just as a tide of flame carpets the ground...Then suddenly quiet, as the smoke clears. Lance gets out from the hole he dug, mumbling and a bit shaking and hits his head into something. Something big and almost hollow, made out of metal. He rubs his head. 

"What the fu--" He freezes. A giant ship. He slowly walked towards the middle and out of the engine's range. A door on its underside opens. Frightened, Lance tries to hide. Nowhere to go. So he just kind of awkwardly backs away. A device lowers to the ground on a long stem. Scans the surface. Lance looks at it and whistles in awe. 

"Now that's some advanced technology right there..." Lance says, getting closer. The device moved and Lance yelped, jumping a step back. A capsule descends from a chute in the stem. Lance raises a brow in curiosity. This wasn't something you see everyday, not to mention something so advanced AND probably from outer space. He felt like an idiot right now. He didn't understand half of the way these things worked. Robot arms emerge from the device. Place the capsule on the ground. Press buttons. The capsule falls away in sections, to reveal...A human...She was...pretty. She was dressed in pure white. She was wearing glasses and was way paler than him. She had freckles and her hair was a red-ish color. She opened her eyes and stretched her limbs. Her eyes were a beautiful green. Lance couldn't help the small blush creeping on his cheeks. She blinked a few times and then looked behind her. She pressed her glasses and started scanning the place. She was smaller than him. She looked adorable. Lance is transfixed. Inches closer. Watches her from behind the device. Tilts his head. Time stops. She's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. A blue ray emits from her glasses as she was scanning the place. Fans out 180 degrees every time it did. She was scanning random objects and areas. 

The device rises back into the ship, exposing Lance. He rushes for cover behind the nearest rock. Never takes his eyes off the girl. Watches her walk, slightly floating, away from the ship....from the ship? The ship! Damn it, it was leaving. He rushed and took cover behind a huge boulder, away from the fire. The rocket takes off. Smoke clears. Wait- the girl-- She is watching the ship rise into the clouds. Waits until it is completely out of sight and smiles a bit. She raises up into the air, letting the ends of her uniform flutter a bit. Lance was confused. That's when she flies around the bay, soars like a graceful bird, does loops in the sky. She looks so happy to be out. Lance couldn't blame her. If he got one thing right, she had been in that capsule. She was so graceful, Lance couldn't take his eyes off of her. She zoomed right past the rock he was now leaning against as he watched her. 

The girl descends slowly to the ground, doing a small twirl while she did. She widened her stance and let herself drop on the ground. She straightened her back and Lance heard that satisfying bone pop. Man, she surely must have been stiff. He sneaked up closer to take a look but accidently slipped, making a small noise. The girl immediately turned at the speed of light, her hand out and shot the boulder. If Lance wouldn't have been so quick to dodge and stay on the ground low he was sure his head would be obliviated right now....Smoke clears...All quiet. He didn't dare move. For someone so small she sure as hell was a feisty one. 

**Who the hell was she??**


	2. Chapter 2

Scans the area. No sign of life. All business again. Walks away to probe more of the planet. That's all she did. Lance was starting to wonder how strong was that code of her. She barely showed any type of personality and it was freaking Lance the fuck out. She wanders through the pillars of cubed trash. Scans random areas. Lance spies from the shadows. Too frightened to approach. She moves on. He follows. That's how it went. She was now probing a mound of tires, Lance hiding nearby. He flinches at the sight of his mouse. 

"What do YOU think you're doing?!" Lance said through his teeth. The mouse eyed the girl and started walking towards her. 

"No no no- Aye! Tonto!" Lance sometimes would insult his companion in spanish. The mouse squeeked and got close to the murder girl. The mouse innocently approaching her from behind. She spins around and blasts the insect. Lance is gut-punched. His companion and tiny friend...It couldn't be...

"No..." He muttered more to himself since she couldn't possibly hear him. He made sure of that...He didn't want to end up a fried human. The mouse climbs out of the smoking crater. Unscratched. Still curious. Lance sighed in relief at that. The girl finds the insect intriguing. She lowers her arm and let's the small rodent climb on her. The mouse starts walking around and goes around her neck. It tickles her and she starts giggling. Lance relaxed and chuckled. So she wasn't so heartless. That's when the girl suddenly pulls out her other arm and shoots the mound of tires he was hiding behind. 

"Woahhhh there- Heheh..." He says as he puts his hands up. She slowly approaches him. 

"Who are you?" She asks. He was at a loss of words. She was even prettier AND scarier up close. He couldn't speak. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times trying to fine words as she was narrowing her eyes. That's when his mouse decided to help him. The mouse walked on her arm and Lance out-stretched his hand, letting the small animal jump on. The girl relaxed a bit and put two fingers on her glasses, scanning him. She lowered her arm as soon as she finished and left unimpressed. Lance looked at his small mouse friend in his palm and frowned. 

"Rude..." He said. The mouse nodded. But the girl was already scanning the area. What a strong chip she must have had to lose her personality so badly. 

* * *

Lance didn't quit following her. The next thing he knew he was following after her like a stray-puppy. She was just so intriguing. Plus, he has been alone for so long you couldn't necessarily blame him for following another human. It was...new to him. She was now scanning an abandoned market. Lance kind of wanted to see how she'd respond to one of his jokes. But she seemed a bit too serious for that stuff. She was scanning through the market when she glanced at him. He shrugged and leaned against one of the carts. That's when he slipped and the carts started pouring. Lance went running towards the door but it was closed, since it was a sliding door. The inevitable fate happened: He got hit by all the carts. Only then did the door slide open. Lance groaned. The girl snorted which made Lance's interest perked, but she quickly dismissed it as a cough. Guess she wasn't so unapproachable after all. 

He followed her around some more and then soon enough it was night. He patiently watched the girl fly around. She scans the ground below her, like a searchlight. What was so important to find in this trashy place? heh...trashy. She comes in for a landing blow and suddenly she was in a capsule like before. What advanced technology...Lance jumped off the roof and looked at her. He circled her and even lightly tapped the capsule. Guess...this was how she slept?? He then gets a funny idea...what ifff...He backs away and puts his thumb out to measure her. He looks to the pile of trash on his right and smirks. Bingo~

Next morning, the girl woke up, the capsule opening and falling. She looks at thing in front of her and does a double take. She opens her mouth in shock and takes her glasses off frowning. Did her glasses look like that? She looked at the sculpture unimpressed as she pushed her glasses up and started walking away. Lance scoffs. 

"Party pooper..." He leans against some pipes that fall down on him and he screams. Another failure. 

* * *

She was growing frustrated and Lance could see it.

Scans a car engine. Negative. Slams the hood shut.

Scans a Port-A-Potty. Negative. Slams the door shut.

Scans an Apollo capsule. Negative. Slams the hatch shut.

Scans a Freighter hold. Negative. Slams the lid shut. 

Everything just somehow seemed to be negative on that scanner of hers. She hovers over the freighter, frustrated. Not finding what she's looking for. Lance guessed that if you're trapped in a capsule for so long and only taken out for ONE MISSION that you can't even complete, you'd be pretty frustrated. Curse his over-understanding nature. Mama McLain did raise a good human boy. She flies past the ship's crane magnet and that's when it slowly starts following her. Lance wanted to say something but he knew better than to try and talk to her again. The girl then get's pulled by them and get's stuck. She groans and, being already annoyed, furious, she BLOWS UP THE ENTIRE SHIP. Lance's mouth fell open as it happened. Man she was a murder weapon. The girl falls down on a dredged anchor. She gives up. He knew that look. He blinked in surprise as she was slouched down and sad and-- 

He should probably walk away but his mouse frowned at him at he tried. 

"Are you insane?! She'll kill me if I'm too close!" Lance hissed. The mouse frowned even more. Lance looked at the girl again and sighed. He grumbled but walked towards the anchor. He sits down at the other end of the anchor and wiggles his feet awkwardly. The girl is still slouched down. Lance eyes his companion. The mouse ushers him closer. Lance snarls at the small mouse but obliges anyways. Both humans stare silently at the fiery wreck. Then...slowly, very slowly, Lance inches towards her. He stopped and rubbed the side of his neck awkwardly. When he masters the courage to speak, she does first- 

"Direttiva?" Lance blinked in confusion. The fuck did she just say? Wait- was that italian? She blinked and tried again. 

"Richtlinie?" He raised a brow as he tilted his head. 

"Maagizo?" She asked again. Lance was more surprised how she was changing languages so fast. 

"Shirei?" Lance blinked again. The girl sighed. 

"Directive?" She asked, this time in english.

He smiled. 

"There we go! Now I can understand ya. As for that...uhh...." He gestured at the cubes of trash around them. She hummed. 

"You?" Lance asked, inching just a bit closer so they could have a proper conversation. She looked at the fire again. 

"Sorry. Classified." She said in a cold tone. Guess he was back to phase 1, huh? 

"Name?" She asks him. He smirks. Maybe not phase 1...

"Lance. Lance McLain." The girl smiles a bit and out-stretches her hand. 

"Kathlyn Holt." Lance blinks in surprise at the fancy name. 'Kathlyn'. The fuck?

"Anything...shorter?" He asks. 

"Katie Holt?" He still hopes for something more-- Suddenly she giggles at him. What did he do now?? 

"But you can call me Pidge." Lance perks up at that. There we go~ Some personality up in here! 

"Well Pidge, it's nice to meet you." Pidge nods. Lance smiles at the progress. Who knew that all he had to do was get closer a few inches?? That's when the wind kicks up. The warning started sounding as he looked at his arm. He frowned. 

"Uh, Pidge--" He said and tried to grab her but she jolts away and puts her hand out in defense. Shit- They don't have time for this. 

"Pidge, listen--" He tried to say but he could already see the storm behind her. Oh oh...

"What the hell were you doing--"

"Pidge! We don't have time for this!" She looked confused, right as the storm hit them. She was shielding her eyes and so was he. They couldn't stay in the open like this! He had to get her out as well- She wasn't used to Earth!

"Pidge! Come on!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her after him. She didn't resist this time. Next thing they knew? The back door lowers. A rush of wind and sand. Lance pulls Pidge inside. She coughs up dust as the door closes behind them. Lance sighs. 

"You ok??" He asks, dusting his clothes. She nods and coughs a bit more. He snorts. 

"First time, huh? You'll be fine." She pushes her glasses up and tries to adjust her eyes to the darkness. Lance makes an 'o' in understanding. He moves around and starts turning lights on around them. Pidge looks in awe at the place. 

"Woah..." She says. Lance smirks. At least she likes it. 

"Welcome to my home, I guess." The Christmas lights and all the interesting stuff on shelves left her in awe. Pidge slowly walks as she looks through his stuff. 

"This is..." Pidge says, trying to find the right words. Lance snorts. 

"A jumble of things, huh? Oh! Here!" He starts going around and picking cool stuff out of the junk filled shelves. Pidge however was getting startled by a Singing Billy Bass Fish. She put her arm out. 

"Woahhh~ Ok there- Come here." He said as he put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her away from the toy. The small mouse was now enjoying a fancy BNL Twinkie and looking at the two. Lance hands her an eggbeater. She tilts her head in curiosity at it. Pidge started spinning it until it broke. Lance blinked in surprise. 

"How the hell did you...No matter. Here." He gives her bubble wrap. She gasps with twinkles in her eyes as she popes one of the bubbles. As he went to pick something else, she already managed to pop the whole thing. Lance picked it up and looked at her in disbelief. 

"Okkkk...No bubble wrap either. Tryyy~ This!" It was a lightbulb. Pidge held it and smirked as she then only held it with two fingers and it lit up. Lance spurted and came closer, taking it from her. He frowned. Nothing happened. He gave it back. Pidge raised a brow, amused as it lit up again. Next up, after he saltyly took back the lightbulb, he gave her a Rubik's cube. She gasped and started turning it. Lance watched with wide eyes, almost dropping the bulb as she solved the cube. He also had the Hello Dolly tape. He gave her the tape as he took the cube to inspect it. She accidently begins unspooling the tape.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH! MY TAPE!" Lance says as he catches her hand and takes the tape away from her. Protective. He spools it back and inserts it carefully into the VCR. 'Please still work' he prayed. The movie eventually appears on the TV, playing a clip of POYSC. Lance is relieved and he sighed. 

"YOU! Will be the death of me." Lance said as he put a hand on his chest. Pidge got closer to the screen. She looked mesmerized by the dancing. Lance smirks. 

"What do you think?" He says as he starts dancing as well. Pidge looks at the screen and then starts dancing as well. He chuckled as they both danced. They twirled around a bit but then clumsy Lance tripped. Pidge gasps. 

"Are you ok??" She asks, concerned. He chuckles. 

"I'm fine..." He mumbles, but as he sits up his eye shuts off, leaving a dark ball instead. Pidge covers her mouth. Lance frowns. 

"Shit...Don't worry, i'll be fine- I just need to-- Oof!" He says as he accidently hits a shelf. Pidge hisses and helps him out of the mess. He starts feeling around and finally gets to a shelf and presses a button, making them rotate. That's where there are some spare robotic parts. Pidge raises her brows in surprise at how well Lance is doing on his own. He puts a new eye in and Pidge sighs in relief. She can't like she got a tiny bit attached by the stray puppy that kept following her. 

"See? All better!" He said as he winked multiple times. Pidge looked amused but then eyed his lighter collection. She took one and flicks open a Zippo. Ignites a flame. Lance freezes. He had no idea it could do that. Moves closer to inspect it...It's the closest he's ever been to Pidge. She remains focused on the lighter. Lance stares down at her....The tiny flame flickering between them... ...The Hello Dolly video plays IOTAM in the background... Suddenly, he looked at her hand. Maybe....just maybe...He could...He musters the courage to open his fingers...Timidly reaches his hand out to hers...She turns and looks at him, confused. He chokes and immediately pulls his hand back. 

"What were you doing?" She asks. Lance chuckles warily. 

"What me? Nothing- Pfft- W-What do you mean?" He asked, rubbing his neck, awkwardly. The tiny girl narrowed her eyes. She shrugs and goes over to the TV. She becomes intrigued by the relationship of the two lovers from Hello Dolly. Lance curses himself and hits himself in the forehead with his fist, his infatuation still palpable, until- He remembers something! He rushes to his shelves. Pidge watches him rummage through junk. A tambourine falls down on his head. She giggles, charmed by it all. Yeah...Lance was cute, she had to admit. Something about Lance... She looks back to the lovers on TV...then the lit Zippo lighter in her hand. What was so special about this human?? She guessed that his personality was silly and charming in a weird way--

"Look at this!" Lance said as he pulled out a tiny plant. Her eyes widened. 

"LANCE WAIT! DON'T GET IT CLOSER TO ME--" But he was already close. Her scanner activated on it's own. 

"NO!" She said and immediately a small emblem on her chest appeared. It looked like a green circle with a leaf on it. Lance's eyes widened as well as the plant was practically sucked like a magnet towards Pidge and suddenly she was back in her capsule. 

"PIDGE!" He said worriedly, but she couldn't hear him anymore, she was locked and shut down. Lance circled the capsule. 

"Pidge?? PIDGE!" He tried tapping it and opening it by force. Nothing worked. 

**"PIDGE!!"**


	3. Chapter 3

Lance tried a lot of stuff to get Pidge out of the capsule. He even put her in the morning sun, maybe charging or over charging could open the capsule. Yeah...those were childish hopes. Several hot days pass and he was still on that damned roof with childish hopes. He groaned. 

"I should have never showed her the plant..." Lance grumbled. His mouse friend squeeked sadly. Lance sighed and rubbed his head with his finger.

"I know bud...I know..." Lance says. He looked over at the capsule Pidge was in. He narrowed his eyes at it. 

"I swear it's judging me somehow..." The mouse squeek-laughed at his small joke. At least that...That's when he noticed the thunderstorm coming. 

"You're shitting me right now...." He said. And so he ended up sitting in the rain, holding umbrellas over that shitty capsule as they were getting struck by lighting, frying him a bit as well. He mumbled. 

"The shit I do for her, huh?" He said, looking at the mouse, his hair plastered on his face thanks to the rain. Next up was dealing with a sandstorm. He had to cover Pidge's capsule and then dig it out after. Thank god to his shovel. He however needed to open that capsule so, he did the stupidest thing he could. He pries open a panel on Pidge's chest. Reveals her pulsing green heart-battery. Attaches jumper cables to his own blue heart-battery. Tries to connect the other end to hers. An automatic defense system blows him off truck. He groans. 

"I'm NEVER touching technology like that again...." He groans again as he lets his face fall down in the sand. The small mouse laughs at him. Some time later, Lance decides he needs a break. He looks around at his mouth and frowns. 

"I can't trust you with something that big...Maybe..." He spots a few Christmas lights and smirks. 

"Bingo. Come on, buddy! Let's go for a walk." The mouse looks surprised at Lance. Next thing they did? was go on a walk with Pidge's capsule tied on a leash. For days he kept trying to get her to charge...OR SOMETHING! ANYTHING! Different objects, different shocks (which mostly ended on him) but one night he just kind of gave up. He was playing Pong alone on the TV and realized that there were supposed to be two players and it just hit him how useless he actually was. She had a directive and shit and here he was...Sulking over the only person to ever interact with him after his family died being trapped in a capsule. He sighed and collapsed in his hammock. The mouse came and curled sadly next to him. Lance sighed and rubbed his head with his finger. The two fell asleep like that. 

* * *

Lance was at work when it happened. He was flicking a lighter defeated as he was sitting on a trash wall when the flame was put out by a gust of wind. He remembered that feeling. The distant rumbling just proved his point. 

"Pidge!" He said as he jumped off. Shit- they were coming to get her now. No no no- that was his only human friend! They couldn't do this to him! If they were taking her? He will go as well. He won't be alone anymore. The Recon spaceship towers over his truck. A robot arm cherry-picks Pidge's capsule from the roof and lifts her up and into the ship's cargo hold. Lance was rolling as fast as he could. 

"PIDGE!" He called out, uselessly since she was still in that capsule. Reaches the end of the collapsed bridge ramp. Forced to watch the capsule disappear into the ship. The cargo doors slam shut. He looks on his shoulder at his mouse buddy and frowns. He sets him down. 

"You stay here! Understood?" The mouse wanted to protest but nodded. Lance turned on his heel and dolted towards the ship. He refuses to be pitiful and alone again! The first of the three rocket engines powers up. Lance slides down a hill of rubble to the ship. The engines blast a wall of smoke. Preparation for launch...Pidge capsule in the meanwhile, was being secured into a slot with multiple capsules. But only her capsule had a green light flashing, thanks to the small plant. Lance was now climbing onto a metal support, almost like a ladder. The ship's engines ignite and the rocket takes off into space. The small mouse watches his human go, but he will stay put. He had to. For Lance and for his probably new friend, Pidge.

The spaceship roars through the sky. Lance tightens his grip, battling the G's. He looks ahead. SCREAMS. HUNDREDS of BNL satellites litter the outer atmosphere. The ship bursts through the layer. The recon ship breaks free of the planet as it's boosters shut down. Lance takes in the sudden change and quiet. He was in space...He looks back at the Earth. 

"Woah..." Lance says. Suddenly, weightlessness takes effect. Thank god he realized before he got to float away. He grabbed onto the metal support again. He look through the window and spotted Pidge's capsule. He snorted for himself. 

"Patético idiota enamorado..." Lance said to himself as he looked at the beautiful star show. And he was glad to have a front row seat at this show. The stars have always been so beautiful. The ship flies past the moon. A billboard stands next to the abandoned Apollo moon rover. "BNL Outlet Coming Soon." Lance frowned. 

"So greedy..." He muttered to himself as he watched the billboard pass. Then later, the ship passed the sun. Lance took off his glove and recharged in a second. The ship cruises alongside Saturn's outer rings. Lance runs his hand through the tiny particles of ice and laughs.

* * *

A Dumbbell nebula slowly twists in space. Lance watches it with admiration. Days have passed since they left Earth. He was starting to grow skeptical of how far these people have gone and boy of boy here they were. He first thought it was a planet or a star? But it was a giant starliner. Gigantic in size. The "AXIOM". The now tiny recon ship heads straight for it. lance's mouth almost fell open. He knew the ship was huge since it had to hold the whole altean population on it but- Holy... As they got closer, two tug-rockets guide the ship in. It locks into giant braces fixed on the deck. The impact knocks Lance off. He lands in the scaffolding of the front brace and rolls a bit. He groans but gets up and straightens his back. Man, he missed gravity. His back was sore. 

"This place is kind of dead, huh?" Lance mutters to himself. Suddenly the entire dock comes to life. Robotic arms and service robots of all types appear...Rise from the floor...Lower from the ceiling...It's a cacophony of automation. They all attend to the ship. Lance smacked his lips as he watched everything happened. 

"I~ should really stop speaking too early, shouldn't I?" Lance says to himself as he watched the robotic parts work. Lance eyes the ship and sees Pidge's capsule and another four other, slide out of the ship's side, suspended in a horizontal rack. Lance raises a brow. A squad of cleaner humans emerge onto the dock. A robot dressed in white with red accents leads. Who the hell was THAT guy? And who thought that giving him a mullet was a good idea? At least short haired girls wasn't so uncommon and Pidge ROCKED the style. But this dude? Someone give him some scissors because that MUST be a crime, right? The guy raises a hand. 

"Hold up." He tells the others, who look at him unimpressed. They all wait for the floor lines to appear, depicting their exact path of action. Lance couldn't believe how nonpersonal and cold these humans are. They file out on the line. Lance almost wanted to laugh at how they had to wait for a LINE to tell them what to do. It was pretty hilarious if you asked him. A crane-bot lowers Eve from the rack. Keith (as Lance read on his tag) and his cleaning crew stand ready. Keith scans Pidge. His screen beeped and he scoffed. Lance studies the routine in which this crew cleans. There's Keith with a brush roller, then another guy with a vacuum and lastly a spray and a buffer guy. He also realized how to get down to Pidge. He pretends to be the third capsule, the crane grabbing him instead. He is set down and Keith starts scanning him. The screen beeped and Keith looked at him in horror. He presses a small red circle on the screen on his arm and a small red light blinks from time to time. 

"Disgusting! Where the hell have YOU been?!" The robot asks. Lance snorts and shrugs. 

"Earth??" Keith rolls his eyes and pulls out a brush and tried brushing him. 

"Aye- Woah woah woah! Off of me!" Lance says, pushing him back. Keith frowns. He tries to clean Lance again. Lance slides back, leaving a dirt trail. Keith gasped. 

"How dare YOU?! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" Keith said as he started wiping the floor. Lance snorted. This was fun. Two humans, led by a human who had an undercut and the hair in the middle was white arrived just as Lance was messing with Keith. Keith was furious. Lance smirked and wiped his hands off on Keith's face. The human cleaner screamed as he was cleaning his face. Shiro (as Lance managed to read on the bi-colored hair human's tag) began scanning the capsules. Lance backed away as Shiro scanned him. Shiro had to do a double take after only to see Lance gone. He was hiding behind Pidge's capsule. Shiro starts scanning Pidge's capsule and stops with wide eyes as he reaches her sign. 

"Holy shit....She did it..." Shiro mutters. Keith who was still cleaning his face froze and everything started lighting up green. 

"She did?!" Keith asked almost in disbelief. Shiro looked at the other two humans who brought a special bed. They binded Pidge's capsule to it. The entire dock goes to "Code Green"! Alarms sound. Green lights flash. All automation stops, all in a rapid succession. It was all too fast and automatic for Lance who lived in a garbage filled planet all his life. Suddenly Pidge's capsule is heading for the elevator. 

"No you don't..." He muttered to himself as he started rolling after it. THIS?? Was the best idea he ever had! Wall-E chases after them. Grabs onto the back of the transport. They disappear into the elevator. The cleaning crew files out. Follow their lines back to their hold. Keith stops short. Notices Lance's filthy tracks crossing his path. He scrunches his face in disgust. 

"Filth..." He says. Must clean dirt. He makes a radical decision and...jumps off his line. Starts methodically cleaning the dirt trail. Dozens of humans speed along a multi-lane passageway. All following glowing lines on the floor. Lance's head whipsaws back and forth. Tries to process it all. Doesn't notice Shiro's transport merge into traffic...without him! Lance frowns as he finally notices. He instantly causes a human pile up! Lance just starts running, rolling. Weaves across all the lines on the floor. Bounces off robots and humans like bumper cars. Barely able to navigate the chaos. Takes refuge in the middle of an intersection. He scans for Pidge and finally notices her. 

"There we go~ Let the fun begin." He flies up the ramp. Nearly collides with a merging hover chair. It blocks his way. Lance gains alongside it, and discovers AN ALTEAN! An actual altean sitting, reclined, in the chair. The person is wearing a red BNL jumpsuit. The chair seems to be steering itself. Guided by floor lines, just like the robots and humans. Speaker headrests block his peripheral vision. A holographic screen floats inches in front of his face. Lance looks amused. 

"They're brainwashing you lot...aren't they...?" Lance says to himself, knowing the altean probably can't hear. He was surprised however to see that alteans truly don't get fat. Their legs will sure be numb since it looks like they haven't moved in anything else but...The rumors about them controlling the change in their bodies is true. Peculiar and more peculiar. Oh wait! he was here to see where Pidge was going and make some mischief with her. Oops- But as he looked on the man's screen he couldn't believe that the man he was talking to was right next to him. 

"Are ya blind, pal? He's right- Ughhhh...Nevermind." Lance started speeding again .He is in awe. Hundreds of floors of guest rooms rise on all sides. THOUSANDS of passengers fill the giant space. All reclined and riding on hover chairs. Multiple floor lines guide their chairs in all directions. Alteans have become the most extreme form of couch potatoes. Absolutely no reason to ever get up. No purpose. Every one of them engrossed in their video screens. Cocooned in virtual worlds. Fingers tap armrest keypads The controls allow them to steer...order food...play games...and most of all...CHAT MINDLESSLY with other passengers: The chatter is deafening. No one notices Lance at all. He drives into the endless altean traffic. Lance couldn't believe these alteans. No wonder Pidge was happy to see the objects on earth and so curious. They were mindlessly raising her as well! He was surprised she had any little bit of personality left! Oh yeah- Pidge! 

A city-sized, mall-like environment. All under a giant dome. The ceiling simulates the sun and sky. A BNL logo with time and temperature appears on the sun! The sun! How silly that is! Lance is gobsmacked. A passanger hovers up alongside him. Tries to hand off his empty drink cup to Lance. The human just stares at the altean confused. 

"Hey, Drink-bot!" Lance spurted. Did he just call him a bot?! They all were tools to these brainwashed couch potatoes! This altean however seemed a bit more chubby and darker skinned, also had something different, an orange bandana across his head. Lance raised a brow at him. The guy reaches forward with his cup. Lance backs away. 

"Here, take the cup. Take the cup -- Whoa!" The altean fell. Lance winced. Ouch...Poor guy. Reaches too far. The guy falls to the floor and flails like an upside down turtle. Unable to stand on his legs. Instantly, sirens start sounding and the lines turn red. Two bots come and starts informing him help is on their way. Help? You mean these bots are here for show?! 

"Useless fuckers." Lance says rolling his eyes. The passanger looks surprised at Lance's show of actual brain and Lance helps the guy up. 

"And up we go, bud." Lance says as he pushes the guy on the chair, flopped on his belly. 

"Uhh...Close enough. I'm Lance." Lance out-stretches his hand. The altean blinks in surprise. 

"Uhh...Hunk." The two shake hands. Lance smiles. 

"Sayyy...have you seen some guy with bi-colored hair around here with my friend in a capsule? I'm tryna follow her." Hunk stares confused. 

"Wha...?" Hunk asked confused. Lance looked in the distance and whistled. 

"Welp, looks like I've found her. See ya!" He started rolling on his tiny wheels again. Hunk waved a bit at him. 

"Bye...??" He said, still dumbfound after the whole encounter. The trapsport pulls out of the station. Lance leaps on, barely catching the last car. It glides down the concourse. He chuckles at himself for that, it was a cool move. Now he had time to take in the scenery. And WOAH. Dozens of themed food restaurants whizz by. Each specialty is served in the same jumbo plastic cup. 

"No wonder you dumbos never move...Who the hell eats so much??" Lance said to himself. He now notices his fellow passengers. They all slurp from similar cups. Lance scrunches his face up. They pass through the fashion district. Enormous billboards hawk the latest color schemes. Lance blinked in surprise. He smirked as he realized he was wearing blue. Suddenly a woman's voice started talking. 

"Attention, Axiom shoppers. Try blue! It's the new red!" They all pressed a button and their jumpsuits were now blue. Lance's mouth fell open. He looked at Pidge. 

"You dare do that woman and I swear to god, I am disowning you as a friend." Lance said. That's when he realizes there's a girl between them. She looked nice, with a muddy color of hair, with a small green-ish hue. He tries to sneak past her but can't as the chair is blocking the way. 

"Uhhh- Ma'am? lady? miss??" Lance says. The girl was too absorbed in her talking. Lance looked unimpressed. 

"I swear if I miss that transport again because of your freaking chair...HELLLOOOO??" Lance said, trying to wave at her. Then he got an idea. She was still talking...

"Date?! Don't get me started! Every holo-date I've been on has been a virtual disaster! If I could just meet one who wasn't so superficial. There are no good men out there--" Lance scoffs. 

"Who are you to say that, lady? Hunk is quite nice!" Lance said. He then looked at her chair. He tries to fold back her speaker headrest. Accidentally breaks it off. Mary's chair shorts out....holo-screen shuts off...jumpsuit defaults back to red...For the first time Mary has an unobstructed view. Her eyes slowly dilate. It's as if she's seeing the world for the first time...Lance snorts at her. 

"Welcome to the real world but umm...I kind of need to pass??" Lance says. The girl gasps. 

"O-Oh! Sorry!! Sure go ahead." She backs away and he passes. 

"Thank you~" Lance sings as he goes next to Pidge. He then turns to the girl. 

"Name's Lance! Nice to meet ya!" The girl blinks in surprise. 

"Uhh...Shay." She says. The monorail emerges into "First Class." A vast, circular plaza of pools. Surrounded by a ring of high rise apartments. Hundreds of passengers lounge poolside. Lance frowns. 

"You all should try swimming sometimes. It's refreshing!" Lance says as the blue fence keeping them in falls down and Shiro leaves with Pidge's transport. Lance follows and waves at Shay. As Shay's eyes fall onto the pool she gasps. 

"I didn't even know we had a pool!" Lances next up? Was this weird room Pidge's transport enters. This cavernous hall where a lone human, typing, is stationed at the far end. A bridge elevator behind him. Blocked by a force field gate. The transport pulls up to the 'typing-bot'. Shiro presses a button and his metalic hand seems to be scanned. The typing-bot responds by typing. Slowly. One...button...at...a...time... Finally, the gate lowers. Elevator doors open. The typing-bot watches the transport enter the elevator. Notices Lance hiding at the back. He gives it a friendly wave as the doors close. The elevator shoots up to the bridge. The typing human frowns and starts slowly waving his hand in confusion.

Lance looks out on the descending Lido Deck. Marvels at it all. His view suddenly goes dark. The elevator doors open on...The large circular room is dimly lit. Windows to space on one side, a Lido deck view on the other. A massive console wraps around its entirety. Covered in buttons. A sea of thinking lights. Lance can't help but stare in awe at them. A purple figure emerged. It had long white hair and yellow eyes with long ears. Was that...A galran? He heard about those! They were extra rare. Like a premium human type of thing. Shiro pulls the transport in the middle of the room and raises his hand. The galran eyes it in shock and nods, disappearing in the shadows. Lance sneaks into the shadows as well. 

"Well well Pidge, aren't you coming from an interesting place alright...." He says, still marveling at this place he was now in. That's when Lance accidently presses a button and drops somewhere. He hits the floor hard in the room below. Someone stirs, then resumes snoring. It was a girl. 

"Captain. You are needed on the bridge." The galran said, he assumed name Lotor thanks to the name on the tag. Also, what was with the tags?! They seemed so...STUPID! Can't remember your name or something?? Jesus...The captain however was snoring in bed. She got up, her hair a mess and rubbed her eyes. She reaches out in his sleep to quiet the snooze alarm. Smacks Lance's pocket by mistake, which hit the player and the song from Hello Dolly he had recorded was now playing. He hissed.

"-- All hands on deck!!" The captain says, sleeply, as Lance is trying his hardest to stop the music. But he had to admit the captain was cute. However, Pidge, in his opinion, was cuter. Lance's eyes widen as the bed automatically raises and forms into a hover chair. The bots started cleaning the captain. He looked around and saw multiple photos on the wall and in the last one? Lotor standing with The Captain in front of him and the name 'Allura' written on it. So she was Allura. Alrighty, he's learning more names today than in his whole damn life! And he comes from a BIG family. Lines light on the floor. Lead his chair automatically to the elevator. Lance sneaks aboard just as the doors close. Elevator doors swish open. The Captain still half-asleep. Claps his hands twice. On cue, a coffee maker rises from the console. Pours a cup. 

"Jesus Christ you lazy asses..." Lance mumbles, hiding in the shadows. 

"Ma'am--" Lotor tries to say. The tired girl raises her hand. 

"Coffee and protocol, Lotor." She says. 

"Computer, status report." She says and the screens all lit up. 

"Fascinating..." Lance says in awe. Her chair automatically arcs along the console. Specific panels light up as she passes. Lance then eyes Pidge's capsule. Is she dumb...? THE ROBOT IS RIGHT THERE DO SOMETHING--

"Captain..." Lotor says as he calls out a screen on the console. Allura looks at it with wide eyes. Oh hey- That's Pidge's console on the screen!! Lotor calls up a screen on the console. Displays the recon-ship and a flashing positive probe. Waits patiently for the Captain to notice. Finally, the Captain turns...but notices the time instead. 

"12:30?! Auto, why didn't you wake me for the morning announcements?" She slingshots her chair to the Lido Deck side of the bridge. Lance nearly collides with her. 

"Honestly, it's the one thing I get to do on this ship." Allura grumbled in annoyance. She grabs a large dial. Time of the day icons surround it. She cranks it from mid-day back to sunrise. The fake noon sun reverses at high speed to a sunrise. Passengers' lunch cups switch to breakfast cups. Poolside passengers' umbrellas close up. An announcement whistle blows over the intercom. A section of the sky becomes a Jumbotron screen, displaying a live video feed of the Captain. The image also shows up on every passenger's screens. Lance watched in awe. 

"Well, good morning everybody, and welcome to day 255,642 aboard the Axiom. As always, weather's a balmy 72 degrees and sunny, and -- Oh, hey, I see the ship's log is showing that today is our 700th anniversary of our five year cruise. Well, I'm sure our forefathers would be proud to know that 700 years later we'd be......doing the exact same thing...they were doing..." He snorted a bit at the sarcasm. Nice one. 

"SO! Be sure next mealtime to ask for your free......septuacentennial cupcake -- in a cup. Also today we have, uh...uh..." Allura's eyes fell onto a green flashing button. 

"Hey, Lotor? What's this...??" The transmission stopped. 

"Captain? Probe One has returned positive." Did this hoe just have the AUDACITY to call Pidge a probe?! He thinks not.

"Positive?" She asked. Lotor went over to the transportation Pidge's capsule was in and undid the binds. The capsule was set down and Lotor started tapping on it. When it opened, Pidge stumbled out, rubbing her head, her glasses a bit wonky. She notices Allura and immediately straightens her back and salutes. Lance smiles. There's his Pidge. He was glad she was okay.

"But...no probe's ever come back positive..." Allura said. The flashing button is practically calling to him. Can't resist. Presses it. Instantly shades close on all the windows. The room goes dark. A large screen appears right above him. Pre-recorded footage of the BNL CEO plays:

"Greetings and congratulations, Captain! If you're seeing this, that means your Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, or..."EVE" probe, has returned from Earth with a confirmed specimen of ongoing photosynthesis!" Pidge frowned and started fuming. She HATED being called an EVE. She was a PIDGE...AND the only one of her kind! A programmed intellectual designed ground evaluating bot! A Pidge-bot!! What an ass. The Captain was staring slack-jawed at the screen. Lance sneaks under the console towards Pidge, slowly...

"That's right, it means it's time to go back home!" 

"Home? W-w-we're going back?" Allura said, hopeful. 

"Now that Earth has been restored to a life-sustaining status, by golly, we can begin "Operation Recolonize"!" A section of the console illuminates. An ancient, dusty manual slides out...Pidge and the others all look at it. Allura grabs the manual and blows dust off the cover. It reads: "OPERATION RECOLONIZE". Below the title, the same icon from Pidge's chest. 

"Simply follow this manual's instructions to place the plant in your ship's holo- detector, and the Axiom -- will immediately navigate your return to Earth! It's that easy!" Lance frowned. That didn't sound right. Lance then looks at Pidge. 

"Now, due to the effects of micro-gravity, you and your passengers may have suffered some slight bone loss. But I'm sure a few laps around your ship's jogging track will get you back in shape in no time. If you have any further questions just consult your operation manual. See you back home real soon." The transmission ends. The Captain examines the manual. Holds it out in front of her. 

"Operate... Manuel...Manuel, relay instructions. Manuel?" Pidge, Lotor and Lance face-palmed. That's a book...Not a holographic-something. Lotor opens the book for her. 

"Wow... Will you look at that?" Allura says. That's when Lance taps her on the shoulder. Her eyes widen. 

"LANCE?!" She whisper yells. He chuckles. 

"What's up Pidgey?" She covers her mouth in horror and ushers him to hide. 

"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOT DOING HERE?!" He snorts. 

"Well...I'm lonely on Earth...You literally closed yourself in an egg and almost gave me a heart attack AND i said hey! why not go see where these fuckers are taking her?? You know?" Pidge bit her lip in frustration. 

"Well, let's open her up. Step One. Voice command, "Confirm Acquisition."" Allura reads. Suddenly the lights turn green and a giant robotic hand grabs Pidge, holding her in place. Pidge yelps in surprise. Lance looks surprised as well, but stays in the shadows. 

"Confirm Acquisition. Voice authorization required." A microphone gets shoved in the alteans voice. ****

"...Uh..." Allura says.

"Accepted." The arm starts tapping on Pidge's chest. The small icon lights up stronger and a small compartment in her abdomen opens. Pidge's and Lance's eyes widen. The plant was missing. 

"Where's the thingie?" Allura asked. Pidge looked at Lance in rage. 

"Plant." Lotor adds. 

"Plant. Right. Right. Where is it? Maybe we missed a step. Show me how you change the text again..." She asks. Lotor and the altean in a hover chair turn around to re-read the manual. Pidge searches the compartment and then goes to Lance, enraged. Lance was surprised at that and didn't expect her to grab him by the shoulders like that. 

"Lance! The plant! Where is it?!" She asks, desperate. Lance shake his head. 

"I-I don't know! I didn't take it!" Pidge frowns. 

"Lance! This isn't the time for some stupid prank of yours, ok??" She says. Lance shakes his head. 

"I would never, Pidge! I didn't! I swear--" Pidge snarls. 

"Then let's find it! Damn it!" They both search the room frantically. 

"Why don't you scan her to be sure?" Allura says. Shiro comes forward. Her eyes soften. 

"Shiro, you must believe me...It was there! The remains will tell--" She tries to plead. Shiro has a stone cold face as he scans her using his arm. 

"Contains no specimen. Probe's memory is faulty." Pidge's eyes widen. 

"Shiro...No..." She says softly. Lance frowns and snarls. What an asshole! Aren't they supposed to be friends or something?? 

"So, then...we're NOT going to Earth?" Allura said. Lotor shook his head. 

"Negative." The galran said. 

"So, uh, I guess things go back to normal, huh?" Allura said. 

"Correct, Captain." Lotor chided. 

"Well, false alarm!" Allura said, closing the book. The lights stopped flashing green and the arm retracted. 

"The probe must be defective. Shiro, send her to the Repair Ward." Allura says, waving her hand dismissvely. 

"No!" Pidge says. Shiro nods. 

"Yes, Captain."

"Have them run diagnostics on her. Make sure she's not malfunctioning -- EEYAH!!" Allura's chair hovered away as it reveal Lance. Lance blinked in surprise. 

"Name's Lance. What's up?" Allura frowned as Lance shook her hand. 

"What's...up...Umm...And give 'Lance' a cleaning and a change in clothes, please." Allura said. She had dirt on her hand now. The elevator opens. Shiro's transport drives out. Both Pidge and Lance strapped on it with energy bands. This will be...something....Allura frowns at the dirt. 

**"Analyze."**


	4. Chapter 4

"Analyze." Allura said as she put the clump of dirt on a beam. The system immediately responded. 

"Analysis: foreign contaminant. Substance is a three phase system composed of various combinations of naturally derived solids. Subject is most commonly referred to as "soil", "dirt", or "earth"." The last word caught Allura off-guard. Lotor was off doing what he usually did so she thought she might as well.

"Define "Earth"..." Allura commanded, a bit shakingly. "Earth" - the surface of the world as distinct from the sky or sea. Dozens of images pop on the screen with mesmerizing landscapes and beautiful people and cultures. Allura's eyes widened as she noticed that humans and alteans used to live together in harmony. 

""Earth" - the surface of the world as distinct from the sky or sea." The system said. Allura stared in awe. 

"Define "sea"" Allura said as she leaned forward to take in all the information.

""Sea"...an expanse of salt water that covers most of the Earth's surface and surrounds its land masses--"

* * *

Lance and Pidge were strapped on the transport with energy bands. The typing human has now mastered waving and waves an enthusiastic goodbye. Lance waves back. He also tried to talk to Pidge. 

"Pidge...?" She didn't answer. She gives him the cold shoulder. Refuses to speak to him. She was pissed. 

"...Pidge....??" He tried again. She looked away. Lance deflated at that. His friend looked so hurt...He wanted to help. But couldn't...It seems he may have caused some trouble doing this. Somewhere ahead of them however, Keith is still cleaning Lance's filthy tracks tanks to his dirt covered shoes. Oblivious to everything around him. Cuts through traffic. Robots crash into each other in his wake. He doesn't notice Pidge's and Lance's drive past. Lance snorts as he notices him. 

"GOOD LUCK CLEANING THAT, BUDDY!" Lance calls out as the transport hovers through a corridor and they enter. It's a fully automated clinic for 'broken' bots and humans. Day care for the 'malfunctioned'. The rejects are kept in force field fences, dozens lining the walls. Pidge scrunches her face up. Lance frowns. Now he sees why she didn't want to be sent here. He shrieks in fear as one grabs his foot. A human with red hair and a funny mustache. 

"Coran Coran the gorgeous man~" He says. Pidge's eyes widen. 

"Coran! Oh, what have they done to you..." She says, covering her mouth. So he knew this human. His wires and stuff must have been fried for a human to act like that. The transport stops at a inspection station. Robotic arms activate. Lance scooches away a bit, in fear of the unknown. He's never been grabbed by one of these and he doesn't want to know what they could possibly do to him. He watches them systematically check Pidge. They perform an I.D. scan too. That's when they attach a 'Defect' boot to her head. Pidge sighs. 

"Here we go again..." The boot is pressed and the capsule is back. Pidge's capsule gets lifted and taken away. The robot arms try to do the same thing to Lance. 

"Oh hell no!" He dodges and tries to run, but bumps into a robot made for saloons. It starts painting on his face with make-up. He spurts and coughs as powder and lipstick get in his mouth. He narrows his eyes but the robotic hand snatched him and put him in one of the force field pens. Lance looks unimpressed at the field.

"I feel like I'm back at kindergarten." Lance watches as Pidge's capsule is taken in the 'diagnostic' room. The frosted glass doors shut. Orderly-arms run diagnostics on a few reject robots. Pidge is taken out of her capsule and stays calm. She's annoyed, indeed. But calm. A series of tests begin. Lance can only make out silhouettes from the outside. The first test was on her arm, the one that had a gun. Lance stares in horror as from outside the door it looks like they're trying to chop it off. 

"What the fuu--" A human with a defective vacuum shoots dust in his face. He rubs his eyes. Next thing he knows, he hears a screech. It wasn't her but he mistakes it as hers. Then she is washed, but as they scrub her neck? To Lance it looks like they're trying to decapitate her. He needs to stop the torture. He takes off his gloves and fires his cutting laser on the fence and then jumps right through the glass door, shattering a part of it. 

"WHAT THE?! ARE YOU AN IDIOT??" Pidge asks as she looks at him. 

"Oops." He says as he realizes what's happening. He shrugs. 

"If I'm here might as well go, you know??" He grabs her hand, the one still being checked. 

"LANCE WAIT--" And the gun activates. It shots and everything just seems to go in slow motion as it's slowly making it's way towards the door. It hits the panel at the entrance. 

"LANCE! YOU IMBECILE!" Pidge yells at him as she snatches her hand back from his grip. They both look at the other room with wide eyes as the smoke clears....All orderly-arms go limp...The repair ward doors open up...and all force fields fall...He just let loose the looney bin...The Rejects look at each other for a beat. Then cheer wildly. The mob rushes to Lance, picking him up and they carry their hero out of the ward, on their shoulders. Lance yelps as he's almost being dropped. Pidge can't help but stare for a second in astonishment. She didn't think he could get more idiotic than following her on the ship. She was wrong. Then realizes her friend was being taken away by a crazy mob. 

"Shit- LANCE!" She immediately gets out of the robot's grip and starts running after the mob or robots and humans. The rejects march Lance out the entrance. Their red defect boots all blink, activating a warning light above the doorway. Suddenly an embedded row of stewards, from under Shiro's care, pop out of the wall. Race to the repair ward. Sirens wailing. Pidge's eyes widen. 

"Shit!" Stars hovering. The reject mob stampedes through the halls. Disrupts all robot traffic, Lance carried over their heads. Suddenly, the mob stops in front of...a blockade of stewards.

"Halt." They said as a white hand on a red screen flashed in front of them. Lance's eyes widened. He was screwed. Lance get's dropped right in front of them and pushed forward on the floor. 

"Uhhh....Heyyyyy there, friends....heheheh...listen this is all~ just a big misunderstanding...ok??" He says, as he tries to play it cool. 

"LANCE!" Pidge says as she flies right next to him. The steward takes a screenshot just as she was rubbing her gun arm. She appears to brandish her gun at camera. The duo's faces now on every wall...passenger's hover chair...cabin...hallway...

 **"Caution: Rogue robots...Caution: Rogue robots..."** Pidge looked in horror at the screens. Lance shrinks down in fear. Oh ohhh....he fucked up big time now. The stewards seem to charge up. That's when Pidge realizes what's happening. They're about to shoot a retractor beam. Not on her watch. 

"LANCE!" She pulls him towards her, evading the beam and puts her hands under his arms. 

"HOPE YOU DON'T HATE HEIGHTS!" She says. Lance looks confused. 

"What do you- WOAH!" She picks him off the ground and starts hovering and zooms right past the stewards. 

"SO COOL!! AHAHAH!!" Lance says, looking back at the stewards as Pidge was flying, trying to evade them. But robots and humans were already recognizing them. Their faces were after all plastered everywhere. Match them with the "Wanted" screens. Call attention to them. Point. Stewards in hot pursuit. They were fried, screwed, juiced...JUST FUCKED. The mass of rejects take their cue. Rebellion! They bust through the steward blockade. Pidge looks around as the robots surround them. She snarls. The rebellion bursts through another blockade and Pidge starts flying right through the opening. She shoves Lance in a porthole cubby. She covers his mouth and waits as she lets the mob and stewards pass. 

"Shut. up." She whispers to him. His face grew hot as she felt her breath against the side of his face. And they were so close too...Damn it. She takes her hand off and Lance almost wanted to whine. He liked it when she touches him. It's like small sparks on his skin. She glances out the porthole and smirks. She can see the docking bay below her. Just under the bay doors, a row of emergency escape pods. She looks at Lance and sighs. 

"Come on. We're going this way." She puts her hands under his arms again, this time grabbing his torso. She starts flying. As they were flying, Pidge couldn't help but blush. Was he always this well built...?? Wait no- Stay focused, Pidge! You need to get to the emergency escape pods. She looks down and sees Lance enjoying the flight. A small smile creeps at her lips. No! She was mad at him! She shoves him in the elevator and hits the button to go down. They ride in uncomfortable silence. Pidge was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Lance was just shifting from one leg to the other. He looked up and noticed the screen. 

"Oh hey! That's us!" Lance says. Pidge frowns at the screen with their faces and puts her hand up, shooting it. Lance's eyes widen as he tries to shrink in fear. 

"O-Ok....not a fan of photos..." He says, his voice cracking a bit. Dark. The elevator chimes. Pidge and Lance step out. Rows of numbered bay doors line the hallway. Pidge approaches "Bay #1". She and Lance enter...The small girl navigates in the dark well and approaches a console. Fiddles with some buttons. Lance looks around and then his eyes fall onto Pidge's hand, hanging to her side. His fingers start twitching as he intertwines his hands together. He looks away blushing. Was it too much to ask for some closure from her...?? 

"Hey...Pidge...?" He asks, weakly. Banks of controls light up around them. Lance looks in awe. At the end, an escape pod lights up. Its hatch automatically opens. Bathes the room with light from its lit interior. Pidge turns to Lance. 

"Come on. Get it." She says. Lance strolls in and sits down. He looks at her innocently and pats the seat next to him. She shakes her head. 

"Sorry...But I have a directive to fulfill...Somewhere in here there's a plant stolen from me..." Lance frowns and strolls out the pod. 

"Guess i'm staying then." Pidge frowns at him. 

"Lance..." She pulls him by the hand and pushes him in there. As she goes to the panel, he creeps behind her. He put a hand on the panel and she turns around with wide eyes. 

"You can't make me go, Pidge. End of the story." She opens her mouth to protest when the elevator chimes. They both look in that direction and Pidge hisses. She quickly closes everything and pulls Lance into hiding behind some tubes. They both watch as Shiro comes in. 

"Shiro...?" Pidge says with wide eyes. They watch from the shadows as...

...Shiro enters the pod...

...opens his chest cavity...

...emits his suspension beam...

...and deposits the PLANT. 

The two humans looks at each other in the shadows. 

"The plant!" They both whisper in shock. Shiro exists the pod and starts walking towards the console. Pidge watches him. As she turns to speak to Lance, he's gone. 

"Lance...?" She whispers, in hope he could hear her. Lance was inside the pod, picking the plant up and showing it to Pidge. 

"Lance! No!" She whispers frantically Too late. Shiro hits a button. The pod door shuts on Lance and launches the pod into space. Pidge's eyes widen in horror. Shiro turns around and exits. 

"LANCE!" She rushes to the window and looks out in space at the flying pod. She snarls and looks to her side. Lance's pod rapidly shrinking in the distance and the plant icon on Pidge's chest glowing made her realize what she had to do. She rushes to a narrow service airlock. She enters it like a phone booth and lunches herself out in space. Behind her a blue trail could be seen as she speeds up to catch up with the pod. In the pod however, Lance was plastered to the door. 

"Cruising speed." Said the system. He was dropped to the floor. 

"You are now free to move around the cabin" Lance frowns. 

"You are now free to move around the cabin MY ASS. Sheesh..." He said in a mocking tone. Then realized he was in danger. 

"Oh shit-" He opened his old chest cavity that was a bit stuck since he hasn't used it in forever then put the plant in. Lance peers out the rear hatch window. Sees the Axiom receding from view. He clambers up into the pilot's seat. Pulls back hard on the throttle. Nothing happens. Looks down at the console. 

"What the hell?!" Then Lance notices something. A SELF-DESTRUCT DIAL!

"OH HELL NO!" Pushes every button on the console. Everything activates:...Lights flash...Oxygen masks drop...Windshield wipers activate...Flares fire off...Parachutes deploy...Lance's eyes widen when he spots the timer. He panics. Looks for a means of escape. Spots the hatch. Grabs the pod's fire extinguisher. He starts slamming on the hatch's jammed handle. Come on come on...

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...

Pidge was racing through spaces after the pod. Suddenly in the distance the pod explodes. She was gut-punched. She froze. Oh God....

"No....No....no no no no NO!" She goes even faster than before to see if he survived. He had to survive! He couldn't die! No- Not Lance! Anyone but Lance- She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes when suddenly something whizzes past her. She blinked in surprise until she heard the cheerful cheer and then the call of her name. 

"WOOOOO! HI PIDGEEEEEE!" She sighs in relief to see him alive. She turns around and starts going towards him. Lance however had the same idea. He held the fire-extinguisher back and launches himself forward. Attempts to fly back over to her. It's hard to steer...They rocket right past each other again... Pidge blinks in surprise. 

"Stay there! I'll come! Weee!" He starts shooting smaller bits of foam, slowly making his way towards her. Pidge looks at him, amused. As he finally gets to her, he accidently gets foam in her face. Pidge giggles as she waves it away from her face. She was about to hug him when he put a hand out. 

"Wait wait- Before you strangle me...Look what I've got!" Lance says as he smiles and opens his cavity. He takes out the plant. Pidge's eyes widen. She scans it and immediately her hatchet opens as well, taking the plant in. She beams and starts laughing. 

"LANCE! YOU- YOU- I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW! FUCK IT!" She hugs him, twirls him around and then pulls him in a short kiss. Her lips felt so light. Or was that the fact they were in space. Lance was pretty sure he short-circuited. Did she just- he was now floating with his fire-extinguisher in the ninth cloud. SHE JUST KISSED HIM! She giggled and waved towards him to come. 

"Come on, Lance." She tries to reach for him. He puts his hand up. 

"Waitttt! NOW~ I can fly myself! WOHOOOO BABY~" He starts flying with his fire-extinguisher. The two fly around the stern of the ship. Lance does a few barrel rolls. 

"HAH! Top that, Pidgey!" She giggles and matches his moves perfectly. The pair fly between the booster engines of the ship. Weave in and out of the rocket flames. Bank up along the ship's port side. Execute a double helix in perfect unison...However, inside the ship, Shay was watching out the window. 

"So many stars." She spots Pidge & Lance dancing among the stars. 

"Oooh...Hey, that's what's his name --" She backs up to wave hello, but bumps into someone. No other than Hunk. 

"Hey! What the--" Shay leans over to his armrest. Turns off his holo-screen. Points out the window. 

"Look! Look at THAT!" Shay says, excitedly. 

"Wha...huh?" Hunk looks out the window at the two dancing through the stars. 

"Hey... I know that guy! It's, uh...Lance! Hey Lance! It's your buddy, Hunk!" Shay beamed. 

"Right, Lance! Hi Lance!" Shay said, waving. They both wave until Lance's out of sight. Hunk absentmindedly lowers his hand to his armrest...and touches Shay's hand. Both turn towards each other. They make eye contact for the first time. Awkward beat.

"Uhh...Hi." Hunk says, smiling. Shay smiles back. 

"Hi." Shay says back. 

Pidge and Lance were soaring across the Axiom's bow. Allura was still at her desk, learning about earth as Lotor was piloting the ship and was turning the sky-dome to night. 

"Define "hoe-down""" Allura said. The Captain is still engrossed in her Earth research. Multiple images litter the screen. Crops, farms, a barn, etc.... An image of people dancing in the square pops up.

""Hoedown" - a social gathering at which lively dancing would take place." The system responded. Lotor came inside the room. 

"Lotor! Earth is amazing! These are called "farms". Humans would put seeds in the ground, pour water on them, and they'd grow food, like, pizza-- And we lived in peace too! Oh it's--" Lotor interrupted her. 

"Good night, Captain." He shuts off the screen. Allura makes an annoyed grunt. The Captain glares at the ceiling. Then whispers conspiratorially to the computer:

"Psst- computer... Define "dancing"." Allura asked, eagerly waiting for the answer. 

**""Dancing" - A series of movements, involving two partners, where speed and rhythm match harmoniously with music."**

Dancing. It was a great feeling to say the least. It was like their hearts were soaring alongside them in perfect sink. And they didn't mind the fact that Lance accidently turned on his music either. It was a nice cruise along the ship the two were having. Lance couldn't help but take in all her beauty. She truly was like an angel. That's when Lance's frie-extinguisher runs out of foam. 

"Ah shit..." he says as he let's it fly around in space. Pidge giggles and takes it hand, pulling him close. He ends up with his hands on her hips and her hands on his shoulder. Both of them stare at the other, flushing, with wide eyes. Pidge coughed and slide her hands around his torso, looking away, so she can fly with him. 

"Come on." She tells him. Lance takes in the way her arms feel around him. She scans the ship for a way in and smirks when she finds one. 

"Bingo~" She says. She goes down on the ship's lower hull...A Repair-bot welds an antenna. Pidge and Lance fly into the open hatch behind him. It shuts. The poor bot bangs on the closed door. Stuck outside. Guess he wasn't going in anytime soon. 

"The Lido Deck is now closing...The Lido Deck is now closing." Said the system. The last few passengers exit the pool area. All wearing the same color blue uniforms...But two people were still at the pool. Wearing red uniforms. Shay and Hunk. They ripple the surface of the pool. Hunk and Shay float over the water's surface. Splash one another playfully. 

"Hey now. Stop that!" Hunk said, chuckling. 

"Make me!" The two laughed. 

"Man! I didn't know we had a pool!" Hunk said. That's when a bot came to them. 

"No splashing, no diving." Hunk and Shay both groaned. 

"Ah, fuck off!" Hunk said and splashed the bot. Shay gasped and they both started laughing. Lance and Pidge were just sneaking in on the floor above them. 

"Oh heyyyy~ My matchmaking worked-- woah!" Pidge pulled him after her. 

"We don't have time for that!" They bot hid behind racks of towels. Pidge was looking over and noticed stewards with their photos on them. Ah great...Lance however was still too focused on her hand. He just wanted some closer. You can't just- give him a thank you kiss and do nothing after that! Come on, you cold hearted woman. Give him a chance. She looked around and noticed a trash chute. 

"There we go..." She mumbled, putting her hand on the rack just as Lance was reaching towards it. Lance frowned. He then pressed his recorder and music started playing. She jumped up, startled and Lance put his arm out for her. 

"Pidgeyyy??" He asked. Pidge looked at him, a bit confused, but also annoyed thanks to the noise. She stops his recorder and frowns. 

"Stop it! They'll hear us, Lance!" She says, putting his hand down. He looks hurt. She then pushes him down. She was about to leave when Lance caught her arm. 

"Where are you going?!" He asks. Pidge points at her chest then up. 

"Directive, Lance." She says, firmly. Before Lance can protest she zoomed towards the chute and flew in it.

The Captain sits by his window to space. Holds a toy Axiom model over his earth globe. Allura was pretending she was getting to Earth. That's when noises came from the chute. Pidge flew out and opened her cavity to reveal the plant. Allura dropped the toy and globe. 

"How...? How'd you find it?!" Pidge was panting. She straightens her back, salutes her and presents to the altean the plant, properly. Allura gently picks it up. 

"We can go back home...for the first time!" Allura says, excitement filling her as she dreams about what humans and alteans can become. 

"What's it like now?" Pidge blinks in surprise. 

"W-What...?" She asks. Allura chuckles. 

"No, no! Don't tell me! I want to see for myself!" Allura says. She turns on the console and hits a button. A strange device raises from it. The Captain sticks it to the side of Pidge's head. She makes a small 'ow' as it sticks a bit to her hair. A holographic screen projects from the device. Plays back images of her time on Earth. A collage of images rapidly scroll past. All displayed from her point of view:...Being delivered to Earth...Flying above the devastated landscape...Blowing up a rock...Scans of numerous trash locations...Allura shakes her head, frowning. 

"Wait...that doesn't look like Earth... Where's the blue sky...? Where's the green??" Allura asks. Her face drops. Slumps in defeat. The dream is over. Suddenly, the Hello Dolly clip of POYSC plays... It stirs the Captain out of her funk. She looks up at the screen. Leans in for a closer look. 

"I know that song." Pidge nods. 

"That's dancing, ma'am." Allura smiles. 

"I remember yeah..." A small smile grows on her face and looks down at her foot. It's tapping in time to the music. Her gaze drifts over to the plant in her hands. She lifts it up. Makes the boot dance. 

"...You made it somehow, eh little guy? You didn't give up, did you?" Allura says. A leaf of the plant falls. Allura gasps. 

"Oh no, no-- Wait a minute." Allura makes her chair hover. Pidge's recorded memories continue playing...The clip changes to It Only Takes a Moment. She recognizes the music. Watches the lovers on screen hold hands. Something familiar about the gesture... Looks at her own hands. Slowly, she interlocks her fingers... Pidge's eyes go wide. THIS is what Lance wanted...Closure...

Her memories continue on the screen: Her name being called... Lance presents her the plant, she protests -- ...The screen goes blank for a second. But it comes back. Lance's vigil for her plays out:...protecting her from the rain...the sun...the sandstorm...keeping watch night and day...trying to jump start her heart using his own heart...Amazed at Lance's selfless dedication to her. She realizes the meaning of Lance's love. Oh God...Love! That's what it was- The feeling the everything! She fell for that idiotic dork. 

"Lance...you dummy..." She mumbles to herself as she watches the screen. Down by the towels, Lance was growing impatient. He was now rehearsing with himself how to ask Pidge what he wanted. 

"Hey Pidge?...hm. no. Pidge, listen...i really- no no. mi amor? no no no- she knows spanish, idiot!" He sighs and slumps down on the floor. 

"I'll never get it right...Where even is she...?" He looks at the chute and frowns. He sneakily rolls towards the chute and peeks up through it. 

"Pidge?" He tries to call out. He looks down and gulps. That's a big fall...Welp...Better than staying there. He started climbing up. Holds himself spread eagle to stay in place. Carefully inches his way up to the Captain's quarters...

"The shit I do for her..." Lance grumbles as he climbs.  A monorail pulls up. Keith steps off. Still hot on Lance's trail, scrubs the dirty tracks towards the bridge lobby. Then notices Lance's FRESH tracks...leading to the trash chute. Keith frowns. 

"Ah-hah! Gotcha!" 

Back in the Captain's quarters, Allura was at her wet bar, watering the plant in the sink. She smiles fondly at the plant. 

"There you go little guy. You came a long way for a drink of water... Just needed someone to look after you, that's all --" Finally, it hit her. Struck by the realization, she stares out the window at space for a bit. She sees her reflection holding the plant and then the globe in the back.

"We have to go back." Allura mumbled. She frowns, presses a button and calls for Lotor. Pidge was still lost in the moments. That's when she realizes- Lance! lance was still waiting for her. She turns to leave, only to find Lotor block her way. She gasped and backed away. 

" Auto, Eve found the plant. Fire up the Holo-detector." Pidge frowned. 

"It's Pidge, ma'am...You know, the one you asked to be built especially for this?" Allura blinked. 

"O-Oh! You actually--...Oh. Well, Pidge found the plant then!" 

"Not necessary, Captain. You may give it to me." Lotor said as he started getting closer. Pidge frowned and grabbed him. 

"You know what? I should do it myself." Allura said, not noticing how Pidge grabbed Lotor. The small girl lets go of the galran who stumbles forward as the altean was reaching for the elevator.

"Captain!" Lotor rushes and blocks her way. Pidge narrows her eyes and snarls. The hell was his problem?! 

"Ma'am, I insist you give me the plant." Allura frowned and shielded the plant from him.  ****

"Lotor, get OUT of my way!" Allura barked. 

"We cannot go home!" Lotor said. Allura's eyes widened. Pidge stepped back in shock. 

"What are you talking about? Why not?" Allura said. Lotor frowned. 

"That is classified. Captain, give me the plant." Lotor said. Allura held a hand in front of her. 

"What do you mean, "classified"? You don't keep secrets from the Captain!" Allura said. 

"Give me the plant." Lotor said. 

"Tell me what's classified!" Allura said. 

"The plant." Lotor said. Pidge growled and balled her hands into fists. 

"FOLLOW YOUR DAMN CAPTAIN'S COMMANDS!" Lotor stiffened and Allura's eyes widened. 

"Aye-aye, ma'am." Lotor said. He starts walking to the vanity console. Allura looks at Pidge and smiles a bit. 

"Thanks." Pidge nods. Lotor starts tapping some buttons. 

A new BNL video message appears. Labeled: "TOP SECRET: FOR AUTOPILOT ONLY".  The BNL fanfare plays. Cut to the BNL CEO at the podium. Haggard. Nervous. Wears an emergency oxygen vest. The fanfare plays too long. Pidge was starting to feel uneasy. So did the captain. 

"Just cut it off, will ya?!" The CEO said. He nervously chuckles after that. 

"Hey there, Autopilots! Uh, got some bad news. Operation Cleanup has, uh, well... failed! Wouldn't you know, rising toxicity levels have made life unsustainable on Earth." Allura's eyes widened. Pidge narrowed her eyes. They left those poor people to die- Lance's family! Her family! They both were on Earth. Poor Lance...

"Unsustainable? What?" Allura said, more to herself. But it was a lie! And this plant proved it! Life was sustainable, it just needed help! 

"Darn it all, we're going to have to cancel Operation Recolonize. So just, uh...just stay the course. Rather than try to fix this problem, it'll just be easier if everyone remains in space." Pidge and Allura look offended. 

"Easier?" Allura asks, taken aback by the audacity. 

"Alright, uh...uh...I'm giving override directive: Lotor. Go to full autopilot. Take control of everything! And do not return to Earth! Repeat! Do not return to Earth! Now let's get the heck out of here." The CEO says as he put on a gas mask. Just as he runs out of the room, the message cuts out. Allura looks at the plant. 

"No, wait a minute. Computer, when was that message sent to the Axiom?" Allura asks.  The paused image on the holo-screen highlights. Data begins to calculate on the screen. Years scroll backwards and it stops on "2110". 

"That's -- that's nearly 700 years ago!! Auto, things have changed! We've got to go back!" Allura tried to reason. Pidge looked at Lotor with hopeful eyes. His program can't be that strong...he had to say 'yes'. 

"Ma'am, orders are: "Do not return to Earth"." You piece of purple sh-- 

"But life is sustainable now! Look at this plant, green and growing! It's living proof he was wrong." Pidge butt in. Lotor shot her a glare. 

"She's right!" Lotor shook his head. 

"Irrelevant, Captain." Allura scoffed. 

"What?! It's completely relevant! Out there is our home! Home, Auto! And it's in trouble! I can't just sit here and...and...do nothing! That's all I've done! That's all anyone on this blasted ship has ever done...NOTHING!!" Allura pleaded. 

"On the Axiom you will live." Pidge growled. 

"THIS IS NOT LIVING! THIS IS SURVING, YOU ASSHOLE!" Pidge said at him, enraged. Lotor snarled at her and turned to the Captain like she wasn't even there. 

"Must follow my directive. And you should stop butting in, EVE." Pidge was fuming. HOW DARE THIS PURPLE GRAPE SAY THAT?! The Captain turns away in frustration. Her eyes catch sight of the captain portraits. Notices Lotor in every one of them. Looking over all their shoulders. A little closer every generation. The Captain slowly looks over her shoulder...and Lotor is right behind her. The Captain looks at the plant in her lap. Her countenance grows determined. She rights her hat...turns to face Lotor...and gives the most authoritative order of his career:

"I'm the Captain of the Axiom. We are going home TODAY!" Allura says. Pidge perks up with hope. Lotor gets in her face. Pidge gasps. The 'nice' persona Lotor was portraying was gone. Pidge rushed to help the Captain and pulled Lotor back. The galran growled and gave an electric command. Suddenly Shiro was in the room. 

"Shiro! Help me!" Pidge pleaded. That was her friend....right? Shiro walks past her and using a beam takes the plant. 

"MY PLANT! That's my plant. This is mutiny! Pidge! Arrest him!" Pidge nodded and pointed her arm at her friend. She tried to hold a stern look but couldn't. Shiro puts his hands up. 

"Put it in here...now." Pidge said as she opened her cavity. Shiro slowly advances towards Pidge. Suddenly something in Shiro's stern look changes and his eyes change from yellow to black. 

"P-Pidge...I'm so sorry..." His eyes change back to yellow as Pidge lowered her guard a bit. But then tosses the plant across the room...down the TRASH CHUTE. Pidge tried to go after it but Lotor grabbed her. 

"NO!" Both girls screamed. It's over. The plant is gone. But in that frozen moment...The plant appears. Rises like a ghost, up from the chute. Lance's head follows. Unaware of the plant resting on his head. He smirks. 

"Sup, Pidge? Uhh...What's he doing?" Lance asked, pointing at Lotor confused. Pidge wanted to cry in relief. 

"LANCE!" She screams out. Lance blinks in surprise. 

"Didn't expect you to miss me that much. What's poppin'?" Lance says, nonchalantly. That's when the plant fall's on Lance's chest. 

"Ohhh. That's what it was- Wait! The plant!" Lance was even more confused now. 

"GIVE IT TO THE CAPTAIN/ME" Both girls said. Lance blinked in surprise. Lotor let's go of Pidge and blocks his view. 

"The plant!" Lotor demands. Lance leans back a bit. 

"Woahhhh there, buddy. Hell no." The cuban boy says back. Pidge tried to jump Lotor but was tackled by Shiro, sending her rolling. 

"PIDGE!" He called out as she groaned in pain. Lance frowned, opened his chest cavity and put the plant in. 

"Take it now, suckerrrr!" He said, sticking his tongue out. Lotor growled and took out a taser. He stabbed Lance with it and sent a shock wave through him. Lance's chest circuits blow and he wheezed. The world seemed more in a haze. He leaned from side to side a bit and falls lifelessly down the chute. Pidge's eyes widened in horror. She screams as hard as she can. 

"LANCE! NO!" She choked back the sobs threatening to come out. NO- NO NO NO NO! Shiro pressed the button of her Defect boot that she didn't take off and the capsule covers her. He picked up the capsule with his beam and threw her out. Allura watched in horror. 

"All communications are terminated. You are confined to quarters." Lotor says as he walks out the room. Everything turns off. 

**"** **NO! MUTINY! MUTINY! MUTINEEEEE!!"**


	5. Chapter 5

Everything was black. Suddenly, she was rebooted. Her view comes into focus. Scans around. Disoriented. Pidge was in the Trash Warehouse. Damn it. She got up from the pile of trash she was in, some rodents running away. Robo-rodents of course. Trash, slime, and robot parts everywhere. Piles dumped from a variety of chutes in the ceiling. She blinks a few times and realizes something. 

"LANCE!" She looks around, panicked. A warning alarm sounds. She spots a platform, loaded with giant trash cubes. It slides into an airlock. Inner shield doors lock and seal. 

"Caution: Activating airlock disposal...Activating airlock disposal." The exterior hatch flies open. The vacuum of space instantly sucks out the cubed trash. She begins to panic even more. Fuck- she needs to get them out of here. 

"LANCE!" She calls out again as she manages to get up. Suddenly, her area is flooded in light. She flinches at the sight of two giant compact robots as they rumbled behind her. Headlights for eyes. Each grab a ton of trash at once. Pidge is swept up with the junk. Compact it. Spit it out...Pidge now trapped in the side of a giant cube. Her cube is picked up. Transported to a waiting platform. Stacked with other massive cubes. In a cube next to her, she sees Lance. Pidge's eyes widen. 

"LANCE!" She calls out. He groans in pain. Ok ok...he was alive. That's good! Again the alarms kick in. The platform slides on rails...across the safety line...into the airlock...the inner shield doors begin to close. Pidge needed to act AND ACT FAST! She struggled but her gun arm was stuck. She frowned and suddenly she heard it cock. She inhaled. 

"Oh please work--" She blasts herself free. She smiles and then hovers over to Lance. He's stuck deep in the cube. Keith suddenly drops from a ceiling chute. Piles of trash and bacteria. HE HATED IT! That's when he notices Lance and his 'contaminant' 

"I have you now-- Wait...PIDGE?!" Keith's eyes widen as he notices her, trying to get him out. Pidge keeps pulling but Lance is slow to free. She won't make it. Keith races towards the airlocks and he puts his roller between the doors. 

"PIDGE!" He calls to her. Her eyes widen as he blocked the doors. 

"KEITH!" She managed to pull Lance out just as the exterior hatch opens. Pidge grabs onto Keith's arm, holding Lance with the other. The trash gets sucked out into space. The robots notice the humans and immediately shut the emergency shut-off button on the wall. The exterior hatch closes. Pidge rolls on the ground as Keith and Lance fall down as well. Keith and Pidge sigh in relief. Safe. The giant robots light up a small work space. Pidge was propping Lance against some trash. He's barely conscious. He was bleeding too. 

"Stay awake for me, ok?" She says as she's kneeling down, holding his face. He blinks trying to focus on Pidge. 

"Mhm..." Me mumbles. Her hands slide to his chest and she opens the place where the electric shock hit. She winced as she saw the charred circuit bored. It couldn't be fixed. She immediately flies in the air and starts searching through the parts. There should be...NO. MUST BE a circuit board like that. Keith starts cleaning Lance. When his scanners finally said he was clean he huffed in satisfaction. Lance looked at Keith weakly. 

"Lance..." The boy looked at his hand, cleaned it and shook it. 

"Keith." Lance made the best thing he could to a laugh. 

"Keith?" He narrowed his eyes. 

"Keith." Lance nodded weakly. 

"Got it. Keith..." The boy with a mullet patted him on the shoulder. Lance groaned in pain. 

"DON'T TOUCH HIM, KEITH!" Pidge called out, still searching through the trash. 

"And don't worry. A friend of Pidge is a friend of mine." Lance smiled a bit. 

"Thanks..." Pidge returns with a few found circuit boards. She shows each one to Lance. He slowly shakes his head. She throws them on the ground, still hovering and looks around frantically. Lance opens his cavity slowly and shows her the plant. 

"C-Come on...N-ngh!....Directive...." He says slowly. Pidge bites her lip as tears prick at the edges of her eyes and shakes her head. On her glasses she could see the directive showing but she ignored it. Lance's life was more important. There was no doubt in that. She kneels down and throws the plant on the ground as she put her hand out, spreading her fingers. 

"No, Lance...Directive." He pushes her hand away and picks the plant up again. He gives it to her. 

"Errr..." He kicks his head back and hisses. She can't make out what he's saying. 

"L-Lance, i can't understand you-..I..." She shakes her head, trying to understand. Lance slowly reaches in his pocket and pulls out a lighter. Pidge's eyes widen. 

"Earth...?" She asks surprised. Lance nods weakly. 

"Earth." He starts winking. Pidge didn't understand- He was winking like he did back on Earth when he fixed his eye with spare parts back at the truck....The truck was on- 

"EARTH! YES, OF COURSE!" She says as she face-palms in her own stupidity. She puts her hands around his torso. Keith frowns. 

"Uhh.." Pidge frowns a bit then looks down at her feet and wiggles them. He sighs and kicks his shoes, taking out some wheels just like Lance had, but bigger. He grabbed onto her ankles. 

"Guess we're doing it the old way." Keith said. Pidge nodded and looked up. She puts her hand up and blasts a hole through the roof. She flies up. 

"WOAH- PIDGEEEEE!" Keith calls out as she goes faster than she ever did before. She can't lose Lance- She refuses- And if it meant she'll just complete her PROGRAMED directive?? That's just a perk at this point!

* * *

A steward moves down the hall. Siren wailing. Scans for rogue robots. Pidge and Lance's "Warning" image on his display screen. He stops in front of painted haphazardly on the floor. Follows it to a storage closet room door. 

"Wrong." He beeped. The steward opens the closet. Coran jumped out. 

"CORAN CORAN THE GORGEOUS MAN!" He said as he got pulled by a beam. Suddenly everything began to shake. Coran looks down and the steward was confused as well. The noise was coming from the trash-chute. Pidge came out of the trash-chute with Lance and Keith holding on to her. Her gun arm out. The steward immediately took a photo. Keith was now back on the floor and kicked the steward in the closet, helping Coran. 

"Thank you. But, what's with the rush?" Pidge and Keith looked at the plant icon then at Lance. Coran gasped. 

"OH! URGENCY! GOT IT!" Coran started running after them as Pidge was flying and Keith was rolling with speed. Coran was now also humming the song from Hello Dolly. Lance recognized it and gets an idea. He hits his pocket. The recorder started. Pidge frowned. It was a good thing he was this conscious. She was thankful for that. She started going faster. Rejects come out of hiding as they hear the music. Parade after the trio. Humming POYSC. All following the pied piper. Pidge perked up and smirked. 

"You genius..." She says to him. He gives her a small tired smile. The trio's "Wanted" image instantly circulates. Alarms sound. Alert screens pop up around the sleeping ship. Lotor watched the wanted image in shock. 

"HOW?!" He screamed in disbelief. Lotor presses a button and suddenly a panel opened. He woke up every steward. Stewards eject from their wall stations. Like ATMs jumping to life. Race in the direction of Pidge. Carelessly knock over stray passengers in their way.

"UHH- PIDGE? WE HAVE COMPANY!!" Keith calls to her. Coran yelps. 

"OH BOY! WHAT DID YOU DO- CORAN CORAN THE GORGEOUS MAN- TO MAKE THEM MAD??" Pidge frowns. Keith hisses. 

"HOLD ON EVERYBODY! SHE ISN'T A PIDGE FOR NOTHING!" He grabbed onto her ankle and they all formed a chain. Pidge was speeding. 

"Mutinyyy...Mute...neee...This is your last chance...Lotor...You hear me?...Stupid...galran..." Allura said, tired. Suddenly, a flashing light caught her attention. Outside her window, she looks up on the sky dome... a giant "Wanted" image of Lance, Pidge and another robot as Lance was holding...

"The plant!" Allura says with a gasp. The Captain's eyes light up. She glances down at the open manual on the floor. "Plant icon + Holo-detector icon = Earth". She is filled with renewed determination.

"We'll see who's powerless now." Allura says and slides under the vanity console. She rips some wires and puts them together, starting the console up. 

"Ah-Ha!" Allura says with a proud smirk. Time for some fun. Pidge zooms with the rejects in an intersection. Suddenly Allura's face appears on holo-screens all around them. Pidge lits up. 

"CAPTAIN ALLURA!" She says, almost breathless. The rejects stop as well. 

"Testing, testing... Is this thing on?" She asks. Pidge looks down at Lance. He taps her hand slightly to show he was still with them. She took on a determined look and watched the screen. All screens display the Captain's live feed. He's absolutely everywhere. A few stray passengers are still up. Watch their screens in confusion. Lotor couldn't believe this! Allura was now everywhere! He tried to jam the feed but couldn't. Agh! There was a reason she was captain after all.

"Psssst! Hey! Hey! This is the Captain I'm locked in my room. Pidge, Lance, bring the plant to the Lido Deck. I'll have activated the holo-detector. Now hurry! Lotor's probably going to cut me off--" The screens all go dead. Pidge and Lance look at each other with determination. They're about to continue on... Pidge started scanning for the fastest route. 

"Pidge? What do we do?" Keith asks. Her glasses beeped. 

"We follow our commands like good humans! HOLD ON!" She says. She was about to go when...A WALL OF STEWARDS block their path.

"FOR FUCKS SAKE!!" Pidge growls. Dozens of them stand in a row. Pidge fires her gun. Destroys a steward. Another one quickly takes its place. Traps her arm with its suspension beam. She can't shoot.

"FUCK!" She tries to pull her arm back. Coran frowns. 

"CORAN CORAN THE GORGEOUS MAN! HYAAAAAA!" He lounges forward and takes down a steward. The rejects all look at each other. They all charge forward. Pidge's hand is freed and the three humans stare in disbelief. Up in the quarters however, Allura was using the device for Pidge's memories and was projecting herself in the room. Suddenly, Lotor gets a message on his screen. It was a Captain holding the plant, but it wasn't...Lotor however didn't realize and all he could see was red. 

"That's right! The plant! Oh, you want it? Come and get it, Blinky!" The Captain hovers in front of Pidge's memory screen. That's how she was pretending to have the plant. When she hears Lotor moving, she yanks some wires and everything goes dark.

"Captain? Captain...?" Lotor frowns. He looks around the room and at the portraits. Lotor stops at Allura's potrait...The eyes in it dart nervously... -- wait a minute. Dart? That's not right-- Allura lounges at her. She grabs him as he tries to shake her off. 

"LET GO! LET GO!!" Lotor says, panicked. He tries to go up but Allura manages to get him stuck between floors. She laughs. 

"Aww? You got a bit stuck, eh?" Lotor tries to free himself. The Captain won't let go. Lotor ends up yanking her through. The Captain rides Lotor like a bucking bronco. He swings violently back and forth.

"You're not getting away from me, grape! -- OOF! -- Is that all you got?!" Suddenly Shiro walks in. His eyes yellow. Allura kicks him out of the window just as he tries to help Lotor. He ends up falling through the chute and right in front of Pidge, Lance and Keith. Pidge's eyes widen. 

"YOU-" Shiro looks at her with black eyes. 

"I....I'm free..." Shiro says and starts hovering as well. Pidge's eyes widen and so do Shiro's.

"I'm so sorry, Pidge...." She nods. 

"We don't have time. PICK KEITH UP! LET'S GO!" Shiro nods and Keith puts his hands up, used to Shiro carrying him around. 

"Welcome to the team white strand." Lance tries to joke. Shiro scrunches his face up. 

"I fucked you up really badly..." Pidge growls at him and starts zooming. On the bridge, Allura was swinging with Lotor. 

"Come...on...AHA!" She managed to hit the button. Suddenly, in the Lindo Deck, the pool started closing, green lights flashing. It was happening. THEY WILL go home. Green lines appear on the floor and every passenger chair follows it. The procedure is completely automated. The passengers are all confused. Helpless to stop it. The passengers glide in by the thousands. Form concentric circles over the closed-up pools. Fill the multi-storied balconies on all sides. Everyone was confused. Shay and Hunk arrive together at the Lindo Deck and notice a bot trying to calm a group of toddlers. The BNL LOGO on the floor rotates. A large cylindrical device rises from the stage...The ship's Holo-Detector. Jumbotrons activate on the dome, showing the wrestle between the captain and Lotor. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen! This is your Captain speaking! We're having a slight malfunction with the Autopilot! Please remain calm!" The passengers get caught up in the conflict. Treat it as if it were a televised fight. Pidge, Lance, Shiro and Keith fly out of the the transport tunnel. Make a beeline for the holo-detector. Ready and waiting for the plant...almost there...But Lotor is now furious. A wheel comes down from the ceiling at his command and he spins it. He throws Allura to the floor and the entire ship tilts to the side. Pidge and Lance slam into the holo-detector's side. Lance drops the plant. It tumbles off the bridge plaza. She is forced to set Lance down. 

"YOU GUYS HELP THE PEOPLE! I'M GOING AFTER THE PLANT! Lance will you-" He gives her a weak smile and leans against it's side. She starts flying as Shiro and Keith slide on the floor towards the people. The hover chairs stay locked on their lines. Passengers all slip off their chairs. Their uniform color defaults back to RED. Slowly slide across the deck. And for the first time...all of the alteans reach out to one another. Shay and Hunk both look at the toddlers now sliding. 

"Be ready to have some kids, Hunk!" They both let go and join hands as they slide down. Pidge starts searching the giant pile of humans. Useless. An empty monorail car tips off the upper deck...lands on the pool level. It begins sliding down the Lido Deck. Smashes vacant hover chairs in its wake.

"LOOK OUT!" Shay yells to Pidge. Pidge's eyes widen. Shiro and Keith were trapped and couldn't help. 

"PIDGE!!" They both call out. She grits her teeth together and puts her hands forward, stopping the fall. Lotor, on the bridge, switches the halo-detector. Lance gasps as he realizes it's falling. He kneels down and starts pulling it up. Pidge's eyes widen. 

"LANCE!" The holo-detector button buzzes and flashes. Something's wrong. Lotor looks and frowns. He keeps pressing it but Lance keeps fighting it. Lotor presses it again. Nothing. He takes out a taser and electro-shock the button. Suddenly the weight was getting too heavy for Lance. He then slips and starts being crushed. Pidge screams. As Allura watches, she raises on both feet. The passengers collectively gasp. Their Captain is standing...and walking herself up the railing...towards Lotor! They cheer! Allura smirks as she makes her way towards the galran. 

"Lotor? you are relieved of duty." She flicks his switch off and everyone cheers again. He turns the ship properly and Pidge pushes the monorail. She immediately flies towards Lance. 

"LANCE! FUCK- SHIRO! KEITH! THE PLANT!" She says as she tries as hard as she can to help Lance, using her own strength. 

"SHIRO! THE PLANT!" Keith repeats and the two nod and scatter. They keep searching, Keith using his sensors when he spots it. The plant! 

"SHIRO! I'VE FOUND IT!" Shay looks at the plant and frowns with determination. She throws it to Hunk who throws it towards the human. Shiro catches it and flies towards Pidge. She takes the plant and shoves it in the detector with speed. The detector started lifting and Pidge pulled Lance out. God he was roughened up good. Her eyes widened. 

"LANCE!" She knelt down and started searching all his wounds. She then tried to wake him up. 

"LANCE! NO NO NO- LANCE!" Hunk and Shay gasped. 

"Plant origin verified. Course set for Earth. Ten seconds to hyperjump." The alteans, who have never before been out of their virtual world, let alone stand AND witness grief from a human nonetheless were all taken aback. 

"No..." Keith said, lowering his head. Shiro looked away. Pidge bit her lip as she tried to wake him up. He couldn't die- SHE WON'T LET HIM DIE! 

"Oh, Lance..." Shay said, crying on Hunk's shoulder. The ceiling countdown hits "0:00." The ship jumps to light speed. The passengers and robots are thrown off their feet. Everyone holds on to one another. The Captain struggles to keep control of the steering wheel. Fights the G-forces. Humans, alteans and robots hang on for dear life. Pidge still wouldn't let go of Lance. The Axiom zooms through hyperspace. Finally, it lands on earth. The city-size starliner lowers gracefully from the sky. Pushes back the clouds to the horizon. The ship's keel descends into it. The earth shudders. Trash towers tumble in the distance. Then all it's quiet. The doors open and alteans, humans and robots step out But Pidge wasn't having any of that. She zoomed out the door and started scanning the area- Ok- OK! They were close to Lance's truck. She sees the small mouse and takes it, putting it on her shoulder. She then speeds towards Lance's truck. 

"PIDGE!" Keith calls out after her. Shiro frowns. 

"OF FUCK THIS! COME ON!" Shiro picks Keith up and, followed by the rejects, they all start going after the two. Allura respectfully lowers her hat. The interior of the truck was dark. She opened the door and didn't even wait until the door fully lowered. She zoomed inside at the speed of light and set Lance down, his back against some shelves. She scans the rotating shelves at high speed. 

"Don't worry...I'll fix you, just hang on for me!" She pleads, more to herself since he was still unconscious. She starts searching and picking up bandages, a first aid kit, new pieces circuits and all she needed. Her hands were moving with precision, fixing Lance. God, she was pretty sure she'll cry. Her hands were a blur as they moved. She was done in record time and put her hand up, shooting the ceiling, letting light shine onto Lance's screen on his hand. She prayed. The rejects alongside Keith and Shiro saw the explosion and thought something bad happened. The sunlight beams down on the screen. Pidge watches...Waits..

...Beep...

...Beep...

And finally, it charged. He opens his eyes but he looks...Devoid of life. 

"Lance..." Pidge says with satisfaction and puts her hand out for him. He stares blankly at her. He tries to leave but Pidge stops him. 

"Lance! Come on..." Pidge says, unsure of what to do. He just stares at her. 

"Come on...Kathlyn Holt? Katie Holt? Pidge?" She says, pointing to herself. Lance doesn't make a move. She searches for any type of reaction. Nothing...

"Look! A lightbulb! A rubik's cube! Come on...you remember these!" Pidge said, holding the light-bulb as it lit up between her fingers. She gives Lance the objects. He stares at them. Pidge waits patiently. But nothing...She then rushed and put on his tape. Only to turn around and see him try to make a cube out of his stuff. 

"Wha-- No no no!" He was leaving the truck. His mouse tried to greet him on his way out. He almost stepped on him. The mouse gave a sad squeek. Pidge rushed to the door of the truck shaking her head in disbelief. That's not her Lance....That's just not him...She rushed outside to him as he was trying to make more trash cubes. She grabs him by the shoulders and turns him to her. 

"Lance? LANCE! STOP IT- T-THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE!" She hit his recorder and then...Static. She felt her heart drop. She shook him.

"Lance?! LANCE! LANCE PLEASE!!" He stared at her devoid of life. He's gone....Her Lance is gone...The dork that collected all these interesting things and had a pet mouse...the dork that followed her in space thanks to a stupid movie and....the dork she fell in love with....was gone...She stays in silence as she looks down. Water drops were hitting the ground. Was it raining...? No. Oh...She was crying...That's what it was. Pidge sighs and forces his fingers to intertwine with her. She hold him close one last time...She leans her fore-head against his chest and starts humming. The song of two lovers...But...it was a bit farfetched now to call them that, was it? After all...his memory has just been wiped clean...even his personality. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes and looks away. 

"Goodbye...i guess..." She kisses him, a soft peak and then tries to leave. She checks his eyes again. Maybe...? No- what was this, a romance movie? As she tried to leave, suddenly something was pulling her back. Dumb feelings- No wait...This was brute force. Was that something squeezing her hand? She looks down at their hands and her eyes widen as he slowly starts locking their fingers together. What...? Lance started blinking...no...winking...wait- wait a second- 

"Pidge...?" He asks as if just now he realized what was happening. He looked down at their hands. His brow raises then he blinks in surprise. 

"HOLD THE PHONE- PIDGE- WHAT?!" He flushes and Pidge beams. 

"YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU- YOU- OH MY GOD- YOU'RE OK!" She jumps in his arms and he chuckles twirling her around. 

"Ahaha! So you REALLY WERE worried about me!" He says, hugging her tightly. She sniffled. 

"P-Pidge, are you crying right now...?" he asks, a bit amused. 

"N-No...Shut up!" He laughs and rests his head on her head. The "Hello Dolly" tape reaches the finale of IOTAM. Pidge and Lance look into each other's eyes as Lance had his arms around her waist and she had her arms around his neck. Keith, Shiro and the Rejects get to the truck. They were about to cheer when they realize the moment they dropped him. 

"Heee-" Shiro was about to say. Keith covered his mouth and Coran shushed him. They all turned around and started leaving quickly. Lance looks at Pidge and smirks. 

"Soooo does that meannnn~" He says wiggling his brows. Pidge rolls her eyes. 

"Just shut up." She pulls him by his clothes, down to her and they share a passionate kiss. Shiro peeks from behind one of the boxes to snap a picture. 

"SHIRO!" Keith says pulling him back. 

And with that kiss a new era started. The era where alteans and humans would go back to living together peacefully on Earth...well...after they finish cleaning this whole mess up. But it also meant the start of a beautiful relationship between our two main characters. 

**"...That it only took a moment..."**

**"...To be loved a whole life long..."**

**~THE END~**


End file.
